All systems go for Roberto Mancini at Manchester City

Manchester City are not about to abandon their attacking, free-scoring style, despite experimenting with a new 3-5-2 system in pre-season. The Blues have worked hard on the new formation and stuck with it when they took on European champions Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.

ATTACKING THREAT: Gael Clichy, seen here battling with Daniel Sturridge, played in the back three during City’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield

Manchester City are not about to abandon their attacking, free-scoring style, despite experimenting with a new 3-5-2 system in pre-season.

The Blues have worked hard on the new formation and stuck with it when they took on European champions Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.

The traditional 3-5-2, using two wing backs and packing out the centre of the park to stifle the opposition, was described as ‘the death of football’ by Dutch great Johan Cruyff 20 years ago.

But City, conscious of the fact that the 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 system they used last season was sometimes heavy going against defensive and committed opposition, have looked at new ways of opening up teams who park the bus.

And this 3-5-2 will, promises tactical coach David Platt, be a long way from the sterile set-ups of the past.

It is also unlikely to be City’s default formation, but rather another string to their tactical bow, a means of keeping other teams guessing ahead of kick-off, and a Plan B if the tried and tested tactics don’t quite work.

Last season City occasionally switched to three at the back. They did it to great effect against United in the FA Cup, when they were 3-0 down at half time and had lost skipper Vincent Kompany to a red card.

It proved a masterful switch, and an attacking one, as the Blues fought their way back into the game and almost snatched an unlikely draw.

Pablo Zabaleta and Aleks Kolarov were transformed into attacking wing backs, and the system also allowed centre backs Stefan Savic and Micah Richards to join the attack. In fact, it was a Richards gallop forward which teased a foul from Rio Ferdinand, leading to Kolarov’s goal which made it 3-1.

But the 3-5-2 was also used as a means of closing out games, of defending leads by adding an extra body in central defensive areas, with wide midfielders covering back and still offering an attacking threat.

The system City used against Chelsea at Villa Park was clearly an attacking one. It looked clunky in parts, not least when Eden Hazard tested Savic and found him wanting, forcing Mancini to take the young Montenegrin off at half time.

That is why Mancini has been keen to sign Daniele de Rossi, Javi Martinez or even both. They are players who could slot into a back three and are comfortable bringing the ball out of defence and passing it, but are equally competent as conventional central defenders or defensive midfielders.

Yaya Toure and Jack Rodwell could also play in a back three, and Gael Clichy slotted in neatly to that role in the second half against Chelsea – and said afterwards how much energy he had saved by not haring up and down the left flank!

Platt is insistent that the new system is not the template for the coming season, and also that it is very much designed to put the Blues on the front foot and use the sumptuous attacking talents of David Silva, Samir Nasri, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko.

"All pre-season we have played with an offensive back three," said Platt. "We went to it last year a little bit to close games off, but what the manager has tried to work on all pre-season is the ability to be able to go to a back three if we want to, and be more offensive than defensive with it.

"The problem is that when you give the ball away you are more susceptible to a counter-attack, and we did that for both goals against Chelsea.

"Robbie wanted to have a go at it this season, and we had discussions about it. Last year we flicked into a three at times, but we did it tactically, such as when we were 2-0 up with 20 minutes to go and someone puts a big striker on, to snuff out the space.

"Then it was done more from a defensive point of view in the last 15 or 20 minutes when teams were throwing everything, and the kitchen sink, at us.

"To add that other string to the bow, we had to have a good look at it from more of an offensive point of view, where we would have the wide centre-halfs coming out and playing with the ball rather than staying narrow, and we are getting the wing backs high."

Revealingly, Platt said Mancini had leaned towards reverting to four at the back with the Community Shield at stake, but decided he wanted to see how the new formation worked against top opposition.

"We have done it in pre-season and we talked about going back to the safety of a four but we thought that doing it in a game like Sunday was a possibility," said Platt. "We thought we might not have learned a great deal about whether it works from our pre-season games due to the nature of the opposition.

"We are pleased with the way it has gone. It has given us another string to our bow, but whether we line up that way against Southampton, I don’t know."

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